The Palms Playhouse has a big name in regional music. It started in a barn in south Davis 40 years ago, moved to Winters in 2002, and closed for most of 2016 after previous owner Dave Fleming retired. Now it’s reopening with new owners, Nora Cary and Andrew Fridae, both of Winters. On today’s show we talk about what inspired them to buy the Palms, their plans, their continuing emphasis on music, how they’ll use analytics to help identify acts who might do well at the venue, and performers they’d love to book. They also plan to display the green room wall from the barn era, which shows signatures from musicians who played at the club back in its Davis days. 

This evening KDRT begins a week of special programming to mark its campaign to boost the station’s signal. On Davisville, “special” means playing a few short segments created for other uses at KDRT that have never appeared on this show before: The Change Monster, and a skit we might call Rudolph’s Lawyer Negotiates With Santa on That Foggy Christmas Eve. But first we talk briefly with Davis Media Access Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault on why expanding KDRT’s signal to cover all of Davis is a good idea. This photo shows three of the folks behind tonight’s show (Autumn was gone before we could rope her into this shot): host Bill Buchanan, center, engineer Jim Buchanan, right, and Officially Unbiased Professional Singer Megan Buchanan, left, who shares her verdict on the musicality of Bill’s semi-finished boost-the-signal radio spot you’ll hear near the end, The Weak Signal Blues.